Time out for family can carry a stigma; study finds evidence of discrimination

Anne Zacharias was nearly 50 years old when she retired from her job as a regional vice president with a national marketing company. She stopped working to be with her children more after years of long hours and frequent business trips, she says.

When she tried to restart her career a few years later, though, she was told that the hiring manager at one company believed she didn’t have enough corporate experience. In fact, Ms. Zacharias had spent more than 25 years in sales jobs with firms including Kimberly-Clark Corp. and...